Station #9: Metropolis CONTEXT “German Expressionism” was a creative movement born out of the Second Industrial Revolution, the advent of motion picture machinery (cameras and projectors), and visual storytellers’ reactions to, among other Epistemic Shifts, the advent of Marxist and Freudian theories. Expressionistic texts use surreal imagery to criticize modernism and express, pictorially, elements of the human psyche. An example: Images from the film Metropolis, which visualize the struggles of proletarian working class “underlings” literally swallowed by machines “below the surface” of a massive, “upper city” ruled by the bourgeoisie class.
Metropolis is a silent film, produced in Germany and released in 1927. The story, comprised almost entirely of visual metaphors, is set in a futuristic urban dystopia, and follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city’s ruler, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes of their city.
Numerous attempts have been made to restore the film. In the 1980s, musician and producer Giorgio Moroder (who won a Grammy Award for his work with the electronica band Daft Punk) released a version with a soundtrack by rock artists, containing lyrics adding to the movie’s social commentary and, by the filmmakers’ own admission, arguments in favor of Marxism.
Play the series of short video clips below. As you watch and listen, be sure to keep informal notes in your pamphlet. What statements, motifs (recurring images, dialogue, symbols, or idea), and themesimmediately strike you as memorable or exigent (emotionally impactful)?
Click here for the first video clip. Click here for the second video clip. Click here for the third video clip.
Finally, engage in a small-group discussion. Each member of the group must contribute to the process by fulfilling an assigned role. Then, in a thoughtful, “MEL-style” short essay response, answer this question:
What specific information should a Marxist critic consider in an analysis of this text? Using that information as evidence, what meaning can we make of this text, using Marxist tenets as our “lenses”?
CONTEXT
“German Expressionism” was a creative movement born out of the Second Industrial Revolution, the advent of motion picture machinery (cameras and projectors), and visual storytellers’ reactions to, among other Epistemic Shifts, the advent of Marxist and Freudian theories. Expressionistic texts use surreal imagery to criticize modernism and express, pictorially, elements of the human psyche. An example: Images from the film Metropolis, which visualize the struggles of proletarian working class “underlings” literally swallowed by machines “below the surface” of a massive, “upper city” ruled by the bourgeoisie class.
Metropolis is a silent film, produced in Germany and released in 1927. The story, comprised almost entirely of visual metaphors, is set in a futuristic urban dystopia, and follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city’s ruler, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes of their city.
Numerous attempts have been made to restore the film. In the 1980s, musician and producer Giorgio Moroder (who won a Grammy Award for his work with the electronica band Daft Punk) released a version with a soundtrack by rock artists, containing lyrics adding to the movie’s social commentary and, by the filmmakers’ own admission, arguments in favor of Marxism.
Play the series of short video clips below. As you watch and listen, be sure to keep informal notes in your pamphlet. What statements, motifs (recurring images, dialogue, symbols, or idea), and themes immediately strike you as memorable or exigent (emotionally impactful)?
Click here for the first video clip. Click here for the second video clip. Click here for the third video clip.
Finally, engage in a small-group discussion. Each member of the group must contribute to the process by fulfilling an assigned role. Then, in a thoughtful, “MEL-style” short essay response, answer this question:
What specific information should a Marxist critic consider in an analysis of this text? Using that information as evidence, what meaning can we make of this text, using Marxist tenets as our “lenses”?